6 Thanksgiving Dishes That Are Bad For Your Garbage Disposal

hopeplumbingNov 12, 2014

The most anticipated meal of the year is fast approaching! Grocery store
aisles are packed with people making the necessary preparations for Thanksgiving.
We spend hours preparing for the holidays every year, and if you have
a garbage disposal, then you know how much it helps with clean up.

It's a magical thing to be able to watch something disappear down the
drain. While it would be nice for your garbage disposal to be able to
digest whatever you feed it, that's simply not going to happen, no
matter how strong it is. Before you start your holiday cooking and giving
your garbage disposal a hard workout, read this.

These 6 Thanksgiving dishes (some of them might surprise you!) can be really
bad for a garbage disposal. Here's why.

Mashed Potatoes

Starchy or fibrous foods, like potato peels, can wrap around the blade.
For example, peeling your potatoes directly into the sink with the intentions
of flipping that switch and watching them disappear could be doing your
garbage disposal a major disservice. It's best to just put those peels
in the trash. What gets wrapped around the blade is not getting processed
by the blade, and this will lead to a clogged drain.

Green Bean Casserole

This is sort of the same story... Green beans are a stringy, sort of fibrous
vegetable that will wrap around the blade rather than getting chewed up.
Putting green beans down the disposal will also lead to a clogged drain.
Other vegetables that should avoid contact with your garbage disposal
on Thanksgiving are rhubarb, lettuce, kale, chard, asparagus, and more.
Avoid anything stringy, fibrous, or starchy.

Macaroni And Cheese

Especially in large quantities, rice and pasta can cause serious problems
if you put them down the garbage disposal. Once cooked, the pasta is soft
enough that it can't really be completely processed by a garbage disposal...
But cooked or not, pasta or rice will expand in your drain and if you
put them down the sink, they will eventually cause a clog.

Turkey

Turkey should not come into contact with your garbage disposal for two
reasons. One, grease, oil, and fat should never be put down your drain.
When grease cools, it solidifies in your drain, and like anything else,
will then cause a drain clog. Worse, bones are a definite no for your
garbage disposal. They're too strong for both the motor and the blades
and will end up getting caught in the blades or even burning out the motor.

Pie

Baking calls for eggs, but your garbage disposal doesn't. Eggshells
don't do well in a disposal because of the thin membrane on the inside
of the shell. A garbage disposal can't do anything with it, and it
will end up wrapped around the blade. If you have a compost pile, eggshells
can be composted instead.

Coffee

Coffee and dessert go hand-in-hand, but once you've brewed a pot, don't
toss those grounds in the sink. While coffee grounds look like they're
going down the drain okay, the garbage disposal can't really do anything
to them. Instead of just being rinsed away, they can get caught in the
trap of the disposal causing a clog. It's best to compost coffee grounds
or just toss them in the garbage.

Avoid a Thanksgiving nightmare! Just put these things in the trash or compost
them. Your garbage disposal will thank you.